African Nationhood

Chapter 223 Future Prime Minister
  Prince Leopold shook his head: "I am not so short-sighted, I am just worried about the company's profit direction.

Since you are so confident and I support you, how much do you plan to invest in the refinery? "

"About half a million pounds."

The oil refining facilities at this time were still very primitive, basically atmospheric distillation.

A giant metal barrel is often used, with a fire underneath to control the temperature. Different products with different boiling points are obtained, such as gasoline, kerosene and lubricating oil.

At this time, the crude oil distillation products mainly fall into these three categories, among which the most valuable ones are kerosene and lubricating oil. As for gasoline and base materials, most of them are discarded.

The practice of many refineries in the United States is to directly discard the base materials on site after obtaining kerosene and lubricants, or even discharge them into the sea.

Now that Mercedes-Benz cars have appeared early, the gasoline obtained from oil refining has application scenarios.

However, the United States produces tens of millions of barrels of oil every year. (In 1900, the United States produced 6232 million barrels of crude oil annually.) Supplying thousands of cars does not require much gasoline at all.

Therefore, gasoline is still unimportant at this stage, or an oil that no one pays attention to at all.

The most common products from petroleum refining in Sumatra are gasoline and diesel, while the output of kerosene and lubricating oil is very low.

The oil deposits here will have to wait until the development of automobiles before they can be taken seriously. Therefore, the prospects of British Southeast Asia Oil Company are very bright.

……

The oil refining equipment at this time was very primitive and did not cost much, so a small investment was enough.

After the refinery is established, additional investment will be enough.

At this stage, the refinery pollution is very serious, so it is suitable to place it in Sumatra. When the technology matures in the future, the refinery will be built in Nanhua Company's own territory.

Since the refinery is not refining the oil completely and the crude oil waste has a high oil content and serious pollution, there is no need to think about asphalt road construction at this stage.

After the two analyzed the refinery, Prince Leopold invested 20 pounds and Nanhua Company invested 30 pounds, and the matter was finalized.

……

Shi Jintang finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, and then asked casually: "Is Prime Minister Gladstone sure to step down?"

Prince Leopold nodded affirmatively, "Yes, the "Irish Home Rule Act" he promoted encountered strong opposition within the party, and there was no hope of forming a government."

In 1886, Gladstone formed the government for the third time and proposed the first Irish Home Rule Bill on April 4.

According to this bill, Ireland can have its own parliament and cabinet, but diplomacy, military affairs, and customs duties are still in the hands of the British cabinet.

After the bill was introduced, he delivered a very moving speech in the House of Commons, calling on all parties to agree to the bill.

Unexpectedly, it encountered opposition from the merger faction of the Liberal Party with imperialist sentiments, headed by Joseph Chamberlain.

Just this month (June), Chamberlain and others voted unanimously with the Conservative Party to oppose the Irish Home Rule Bill. The Gladstone regime only lasted a few months before it collapsed.

"Who do you think will be able to form a cabinet next?"

Although Shi Jintang knew who the next prime minister would be, he could not reveal his true identity to the prince. In addition, he also needed the prince to help him make an appointment with the future prime minister.

Prince Leopold thought for a while and then said: "The Liberal Party has suffered this disastrous defeat and there is no possibility of being in power again.

The one who can form a cabinet in the future is the Conservative Party, and the leader of the Conservative Party, the Marquess of Salisbury, will be the future Prime Minister. "

The Marquess of Salisbury, whom Prince Leopold refers to, briefly formed a government from the end of last year to April this year.

Now that Gladstone has been kicked out of Downing Street, the Marquess of Salisbury will naturally replace him in forming a cabinet.

The leader of the Conservative Party is an imperialist, very liberal and strong, and willing to delegate power to those he trusts.

During the Second Boer War, the British Army was badly beaten.

Instead of blaming his ministers, he trusted them more. In the end, Britain won the second "Boer War" with difficulty.

During his tenure, Britain pursued a policy of expansion. It was only in the original time and space that Cecil Rhodes was able to capture three inland colonies in southern Africa and named the regional capital Salisbury (now Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe) in Southern Rhodesia.

In Borneo, the British annexed the Brooke Dynasty (Kingdom of Sarawak) and Sabah to the British colonies, and Brunei also became a British protectorate.

In addition, the prime minister also exchanged the geographically important Helgoland Island in Europe for the Sultanate of Zanzibar from the Germans.

Later, when he formed the cabinet again in 1895, he invited Joseph Chamberlain, who was also an imperialist but from a different party, to join the cabinet as colonial secretary.

Now that Nanhua Company has obtained two indigenous kingdoms in advance, in the eyes of the Marquis of Salisbury, Shi Jintang, as the general manager of Nanhua Company, should be a trustworthy "imperial prince".

Moreover, the Conservative Prime Minister is also a scholar. He loves physics very much. He also has a laboratory dedicated to verifying electromagnetism.

Therefore, when Shi Jintang meets him, they will have a "common language".

However, Shi Jintang had never interacted with the conservative leader before, so he needed an introducer, and Prince Leopold was very suitable.

"Your Highness, can you help me make an appointment with the Marquis?"

Prince Leopold nodded, "No problem."

……

Three days later, Shi Jintang came to an old apartment building on Arlington Street in London.

The future prime minister of the British Empire lived here. Shi Jintang couldn't believe it. After checking the address, he was still sure that it was correct.

He stepped forward and rang the doorbell.

"Jingle Bell"

"who are you looking for?"

A wrinkled maid opened the door. Shi Jintang took off his silk top hat and said softly: "I am Henry Shi. I am here to meet the Marquis of Salisbury."

The elderly maid looked at Shi Jintang, and then whispered: "Wait a moment."

After saying that, the door was closed.

After a while, he opened it again, and the old maid stepped aside, "Guards, please don't go in."

Hearing this, Shi Jintang nodded to Shi Ming and others behind him.

This is an apartment with a long history. The furniture and floors inside are very old, and you can hear creaking sounds when walking on them.

Shi Jintang couldn't believe that an imperial marquis and future prime minister would live in such an old place.

There was a lot of space in the room, and they were walking upstairs along the lobby. Fortunately, the stairs here were paved with marble, so they would not make any noise when walking on them.

"Your Majesty the Marquis doesn't like noise, so you should step more gently when you reach the second floor."

Shi Jintang, who was still a little casual at first, had to put most of his energy on his feet after the old maid prompted him.

But the creaking on the floor was still unavoidable, and he shrugged at the old maid, meaning it was not my fault.

The old maid didn't say anything, she just led him inside.

Soon she came to a door. The old maid knocked on the door and heard a rich male voice coming from inside: "Please come in."

The old maid opened the door, and Shi Jintang finally saw the future Prime Minister of the British Empire clearly through the open door.

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